Cars are a symbol of modernity and luxury, and particularly so in China, the largest car market in the world. Everyone is in on this: the government, auto companies, and of course, the sacred cow of the international economy, the rising Chinese middle class. As a country and a generation goes wheels up, one of [...]
Category > street scene
Photos from the One A Day Photo Project
Last year, last year!, I started the One A Day Photo Project, which only made it to two posts before I went on another long, unintended hiatus. The sad thing is that I did take a considerable number of photographs, but never got around to editing and uploading them. But here are some of the [...]
A donkey, a horse, and a tourist climbed the Great Wall…
It’s not entirely uncommon to see farm animals such as horses and donkeys in Beijing, especially as they are often attached to fruit and vegetable carts for farmers trekking in from the countryside to sell their wares. In fact, here’s a horse (or perhaps a hinny, a hybrid from a male horse and a female [...]
The love child of English and Chinese
As seen in 帽儿胡同 Mao’er Hutong, near 南锣鼓巷 Nanluoguxiang. This sign for a bookstore/tea house represents what I like best about Beijing’s–and China as a whole–burgeoning interest in design and language, the way that it cleverly takes both Chinese characters and the English alphabet to create something new. In the Traditional character for book 書 [...]
中国－别无他处 China – Nowhere else
I can’t believe that in 2010 I only updated this blog four times. Every few weeks someone reminds me of how much they love this blog, even through its long silences, so darlings, I am listening. Yes, this blog still lives, and I still live here in Beijing. In the meantime, Beijing has actually become [...]
One A Day Photo Project: April 8th – April 10th
(I’m taking a photo a day of whatever is interesting in my life in Beijing. For the story behind this project, please go to the first entry in the project.) April 8 Ack, another day where I forgot my camera. This photo is actually from nearly a year ago, when I went for a yoga [...]
One A Day Photo Project: April 1st – April 7th
Last year, my friend B in Florianopolis, Brazil began a wonderful project. She started taking a photo a day. When I wrote to tell her how much I enjoyed her project, she suggested that I do the same since she wanted to see Beijing from a personal perspective. As quirkyBeijing tends to go through long [...]
it’s a hard knock life
One of the distinct pleasures of walking around Beijing’s hutongs is the colorful doors and the unusual door knobs. Here is a collection of the door knobs that I have seen around Beijing. (16 photos total)
Life at 134 Jiaodaokou Nan Da Jie (交道口南大街134号）
It’s been an embarrassingly long time since I updated this website! Now that I’ve managed to update WordPress and get the comments working again, it’s time to update qB itself. My friend V and I did a hutong photo shoot. These photos were taken at our last stop, a row of street food vendors.
beijing in vintage postcards from images of asia
Street cleaners wash down a city street in old Beijing. Chinese Lunch Counter on the Streets of Beijing Chinese Water Carrier The Images of Asia stock image website combines two of my favorite things: vintage postcards and historic China. These evocative postcards, some with their original stamps, are organized by cities and by studios. [...]
